


Not About Angels

by WonTon_Lady



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Clint Barton is a butt, F/F, F/M, Glitter Bombs, Mutant Reader, Natasha loves Bruce end of story, Other, Rhodey is the best uncle, Steve is your BFF, Thanksgiving traditions, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony is surprisingly a great dad, Tony probably doesnt like that, a literal heart, also in glitter, avengers fluff, drowning in fluff, happy birthday to you, holidays in general, hot cocoa and Tony is a sweet combination, i hope its caffeine free, so much glitter, thor is a BAMF, well its not that big of a surprise, why diet soda, why not regular soda, you are a BAMF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-04-08 22:10:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4322655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WonTon_Lady/pseuds/WonTon_Lady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The reader and their relationship with the different members of the Avengers team. Basically all cute fluff with the occasional story line.</p><p> </p><p>I do not own these characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. All That Glitters is Generally Glitter

**Author's Note:**

> Each story will be updated at least once a month (I will do my best to stick to that time frame).  
> And BTW, the reader is a mutant (the following chapters will go further into that)  
> And in case you wanted to see the party outfit: http://www.polyvore.com/party/set?id=168635787

After the events in Manhattan and Malibu, I moved into the Stark Tower with my father, Tony. Most people don’t know that the famous billionaire playboy philanthropist has a daughter – save a few people who know him very well – and he’s kept me secret for several good reasons. After my father and Pepper had trouble with Aldrich Killian and there was that whole millions of exploding Iron Mans and Pepper being drugged with a super soldier serum with bad side effects thing, I decided that it would be best if I stayed close to home for a while.

After the end of the year party at my job, I packed up my possessions and with a deep sadness weighing down my heart, then left the school for the gifted that I had been teaching at for almost five years. The ride home on the Stark Industries jet felt like an eternity, and nothing I did made my mind stop swirling with thoughts.

When the whole alien invasion went down, S.H.I.E.L.D. had requested my assistance, so I had fought a long side the Avengers and my father. I haven’t exactly been the same since, especially since a beloved friend of ours, Phil Coulson, had died in action. I haven’t actually been in New York for more than a few days since then. And of course I have to wear a silly disguise because hundreds of cameras caught “The Purple Fighter” during the attack (which is such a silly name). Now I have to wear an itchy black wig over my lavender colored hair, which actually makes me look more like my father.

When the jet touched ground on the landing strip at the top of Stark Tower – correction, _Avengers Tower_ , I unloaded my belongings myself and made my way through the penthouse which I knew very well. The colors and decorations were much different than when I had been there previously, but my father and Pepper had decided that the tower should remain true to its original layout.

When I reached the elevator that was meant to take me to the floor where my room was, a voice echoed through the space as the doors closed. “Good afternoon, Miss Stark.”

I smiled at the sound of the A.I’s voice. “Good afternoon to you too, JARVIS.”

“Your father has instructed me to take you to one of the higher levels when you arrived.”

I sighed then pouted. “At least let me go to my room and change. I already know what fate lies ahead of me.”

JARVIS complied and as soon as the doors opened to my floor, I darted out of the elevator and entered my room. I changed out of my work clothes and into a nice black blouse and pencil skirt with matching heels. I went back to the elevator and sighed as JARVIS took me to where my father had asked him too.

To my surprise, no one was in what seemed to be in a very empty party room.

“Hello?” I called out, feeling a little ridiculous.

Something hit me in the back of my head and felt it crumble to pieces, sending purple glitter flying in a halo around me. _Glitter bombs._

“SURPRISE, BABY STARK.” Clint Barton yelled and enveloped me in a tight bear hug from behind me. After his exclamation, many more erupted from around the room. People popped out from behind tables and curtains and the bar shouting “Surprise!” and threw glitter bombs in my direction.

My father walked over to me from the bar, holding a diet coke in one hand and a cigar in the other, a dorky smile dancing on his face. “Happy Birthday, blueberry.”

Clint let me down and I walked over to my father and enveloped him in a tight hug, nuzzling my face into his chest. I noticed that the faint blue glow that used to come from his heart was now gone.

“It’s good to see you up and about,” I said, pulling away, “Is it weird not having that thing in your chest? And why are you drinking diet coke at a party?”

He shrugged, “It’s a little weird, but I can actually breathe now. And this diet coke is one of my three birthday presents to you.”

“Yay! I’ve always wanted a half empty can of soda. How did you know?”

He rolled his eyes at me and I smiled, “The gift I am giving you is my sobriety for a night. There, you’re welcome. There will be no drunken shenanigans from me this evening. However I cannot promise there will be no shenanigans in general.”

“Thank you,” I said simply.

“Anyway,” He turned around and yelled out to the crowd, “Everyone give a nice round of applause for my amazing daughter, (Y/N) Maria Stark.”

The room filled with clapping and cheers and I looked down at the floor, a blush creeping up to my face.

“Now that the birthday girl is here, it’s time to get the party started!” he raised his arms and the lights came on and music began to pulse throughout the room. “Happy 23rd, Nutterbutter.”

He bopped my nose then left to go talk to Pepper at the bar, and I stood there for a while taking it all in. Several Stark Industries employees and a few former SHIELD agents were at the party, including the Avengers team. Natasha came up to me and gave me a big hug, then passed me a box filled with glitter bombs.

“We’re getting Barton.”

I smiled and nodded. We weaved our way through the crowd to where Clint was talking to Steve and Bruce and threw two glitter bombs straight at the back of his dirty blonde hair, leaving a cloud of red and light purple.

Bruce and Steve erupted in laughter while Clint slowly turned and glared at us. Nat and I giggled and ran off towards the bar.

I ordered a round whiskey and Natasha got herself vodka.

“I’m surprised that you actually came,” Natasha said after taking a sip of her drink, “we all know how much you love those kids you work with. Everyone would have understood if you decided to just stay there.”

I looked down at my glass and watched the contents swirl as I moved it in my hands.

“Well, I wanted to stay, but I also wanted to be home. Especially after what happened to Pepper and my dad, and what you and Steve went through with the collapse of S.H.I.E.L.D… It was just time to come home.”

Natasha gave me a sympathetic smile. “Well I’m glad you’re here, we missed you. And happy birthday сирень.” And with that, she was off.

The rest of the night was spent with several drinks and laughs with my father’s teammates. While Steve and I were talking about a new art gallery that opened on 5th, he stopped mid sentence and gestured to a table behind me. I turned and saw Natasha and Bruce talking, a blush on both their faces.

“How long do you think it’s going to take for that to happen?” Steve asked with a smile.

I shrugged. “Who knows. But their children would be adorable, huh?”

Steve laughed. “You know, I’m really glad you’re back.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, the team hasn’t been the same without you. And honestly, I can’t manage Tony on my own anymore.”

“The man is a toddler with a screwdriver, Steve. All you really need to do is make him _feel_ like he’s in charge. It’s a sacred and difficult art to learn, but I shall teach it to you.”

Steve smiled and shook his head, “It wouldn’t work as well unless it was you.”

“Anyway,” I began, changing the subject, “what about you? Has Natasha set you up on any more blind dates?

Steve rolled his eyes, “No, thankfully. There’s so much to do and our lives are already busy as it is, I’d rather not bring anyone into this life if they don’t have to be.”

I shrugged, “I guess you’re right.”

Steve took a sip of his beer then asked, “What about you?”

I felt a blush creep on to my face.

“(Y/N),” he said, smirking as he nudged my side, “you can tell me.”

“Well there was someone, at the school...” I looked down at my empty hands and frowned. I hadn’t thought about this in a while.

Steve sat up straighter and shifted so he was facing me. He gave me a worried look and I just shrugged.

“I dated him, he was like me, and it just didn’t work out…” I sighed, “Somehow Hydra made its way to my school too.”

Steve frowned. “I’m sorry, (Y/N).”

I shook my head, “What happened, happened. I’ll deal.”

Steve offered his beer to me and I took a long drink.

“I think it’s pretty funny that my best friend is a 96 year old super soldier.”

He smirked and took back his beer, “And mine is the granddaughter of the man that _made me_ the super soldier.”

We laughed a little at that, and before either of us could continue the conversation, a glitter bomb exploded between us on the sofa, covering us in a haze of purple.

“(Y/N)!” Clint yelled from the rafters of the party room, “It’s time to meet your maker.”

“You’re done for,” Steve said then quickly got up and ran away from the battle zone.

“Steve!” I shouted as he ran away “What happened to leave no man behind?”

Another glitter bomb exploded near my shoulder, then another near my hip. I quickly stood up and grabbed the box of glitter bombs that Natasha had given me earlier. I ducked behind the sofa and threw a glitter bomb in Barton’s direction, missing his head by only a few inches. He tossed another one at my hiding place and I darted away, throwing another one at his exposed chest, this time hitting my target. Light purple glitter erupted from the bomb, coating his face and making cough and sputter.

As I was looking around for another place to hide before he was able to recover, someone came up from behind me and smashed a bomb into my hair, leaving my purple curls peppered with gold.

“I couldn’t _not_ get you tonight,” my father was standing behind me with a smirk on his face, three more glitter bombs in hand, “let’s just call it retribution for New Years ’09.”

I smiled and turned to run, but it was too late. Another bomb got me on the shoulder and exploded in a cloud of gold. As my father, Clint and I continued our war, many of the other Avengers and partygoers joined. There was a flurry of glitter from Bruce that got my father on the side of his face, coating his goatee with specks of green. A silver bomb went off near Natasha, thrown by Sam, a new friend of Steve and Nat. Pepper threw a few pink bombs here and there, but mainly took cover behind Thor who was too in awe with the sparkles to join in.

           

That night, after everyone went home and I washed all the glitter out of my hair (for the most part) I walked into the living room to see my father holding a large box wrapped in yellow paper with a purple bow on the top.

“This is gift number two.” He said with a smile.

I raised an eyebrow and cautiously took the box from his hands. “Should I be afraid?”

He rolled his eyes, “just open it. I’m not getting any younger.”

I tore open the carefully wrapped box (probably wrapped by Pepper, if we’re being honest) and was surprised to see a black stealth suit, similar to Natasha’s, with metallic violet trim. I was speechless.

“Since you’re home now,” he looked down and kicked the carpet with the tow of his dress shoe, “I figured you could help us out on missions. We need all the help we can get, and you’re the best there is. Other than me, of course.”

I smiled and gave him a hug. “Thank you. So what’s number three?”

He gestured for me to sit on the couch then walked over to the coffee table. He picked up a thermos and my yellow mug from off the table and waggled his eyebrows, “Hot chocolate, cup cake.”

And so that is how the evening of my 23th birthday ended, snuggled up on the couch in my pajamas with my father, hot chocolate, and reruns of Threes Company. It was like I had never even been gone.

 


	2. When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Some Overly Complicated Lemonade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your relaxing afternoon turns into an evening at a Greek restaurant, then dancing at a club, then more lemonade. (So much fluff)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoy! (again, I'll try to update as often as I can)  
> Please feel free to comment.  
> And in case you want to see the clothes I imagined http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=171371886

“Are you aware of what time it is?”

I was standing at the kitchen counter cutting up some mint and lemon halves on the cutting board.

“It’s about one o’clock.” I said without looking up from my work.

My father pulled a stool up to where I was working and sat, laying his face down on the cool surface of the counter.

“It’s too early for this noise.”

“It was just the microwave. And it’s the afternoon, it’s not early.”

“Not on Tony’s clock.”

“Tony’s clock is a little fucked up.”

My father quickly sat up straight on the stool and gasped dramatically, “Watch your mouth, missy. You know how your best friend the Capsicle feels about curse words.”

I rolled my eyes, “Don’t you have a business to run?”

My father waved his hand in the air, “I gave that to Pepper a long time ago.”

I stopped chopping and looked at him, a little surprised.

“Are you really that surprised?”

I thought for a moment then shrugged, “Nah, not really.”

“Anyway,” my father stood up and took the knife and lemon I was holding from my hands and set them aside, “about the Capsicle.”

I sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter, my arms folded over my chest, “What about Steve.”

“If I had to choose what my grandchildren would be like, I would prefer that they weren’t so spangley.”

“We’re friends.”

“Friends don’t spend hours together at art galleries.”

“You and Rhodey watch chick flicks together almost every Saturday night. Which is worse?”

“They are not chick flicks; they are just movies that attract large female audiences. And that’s different.”

I rolled my eyes and picked up my knife and went back to what I was doing, “You won’t have to worry about having any spangley grandchildren, dad.”

He breathed a sigh of relief and walked to the fridge to grab a bottle of orange juice.

“They’re even more American than that,”

Orange juice shot out of my father’s nose and I doubled over in laughter.

“You are not funny at all!”

 

“You really need to get back out there,”

Clint was standing in the door way watching me, a laugh bubbling just below the surface.

I was still working on the lemonade still, squeezing lemons into a glass pitcher using a manual juicer. My lavender hair was pulled up unto a high ponytail and I had a button down dress on under my apron.

“Why do you say that?”

“You’re making lemonade on a Friday afternoon. You’ve been here two weeks and you haven’t left the tower once.”

“It’s a huge tower, how do you expect me to find the way out when I can’t even find the bathroom?”

Clint snorted, “Seriously, we need you to be alert and ready for a mission. For that to happen, you need some fresh air.”

“But it’s so hot outside. And I have to wear that stupid wig,” I pouted.

“Look, Nat wants to go to some Greek restaurant on 20th. The plan is you, Nat and I invite Bruce, then you and I ditch them.”

“Ah, so it begins.” I replied. I started to clean up my station and threw out the lemon carcasses, “I’ll go. What time?”

“Around 7.”

“The things I do for my friends.”

 

That night I put on my red one shoulder dress, black heels, and my stupid wig then made my way down to the living room. Clint was sitting on the couch watching How I Met your Mother and laughing hysterically. He was dressed in a black button down and slacks with his hair actually combed nicely.

When I went over to join him on the couch, he looked up and whistled at me.

“Well look at you. You actually look like Tony’s child now.”

I rolled my eyes, “Shut up, Barton.”

Natasha walked into the room a few moments later wearing a modest black dress and heels.

“Nat,” Clint said with a frown, “you’re not wearing the dress I picked for you”

“I wouldn’t call it a dress,” she rolled her eyes at Clint then looked at me, “It was basically a tube top. My cleavage had cleavage when I put that thing on.”

“That’s the point, Nat. You have to make him want you.”

I smacked Clint on the back of the head and sighed, “You are ridiculous, Clint.”

At that moment, Bruce walked out of the elevator and made his way towards us. He was dressed in a gray button down and black slacks, his dark curls as messy as ever.

“Are you all ready?”He asked.

Clint cracked his knuckles, “Let’s do this.”

 

The restaurant was gorgeous. It was decorated in clean, crisp colors and ornate metal light fixtures hung from the ceiling. The chairs were made of mahogany and the tables were covered in a white silk table cloth. The plates looked like they were expensive china and the silverware was polished to perfection.

“This isn’t at all what I was expecting,” I said after we took out seats, “but I like it.”

Clint ordered a bottle of red wine from which he poured us all a generous serving of. We sipped our wine and talked about everything. Bruce told us about a new project he started with my father, and the three of us gave him ideas of what to add to it.

“But what if it made pie?” Clint said excitedly, “You’re on a mission and you have a sudden craving for pie, and BAM you have pie!”

“I love the idea,” Bruce said, trying his best to suppress a laugh, “but you realize that this is meant to vaporize water in flooded cities, not your hunger?”

We all laughed and Clint rolled his eyes, “It could totally work.”

The waiter finally came to our table and we ordered our food. We ate what was on our plates and shared some of each others, then ordered a dessert to share. When the table was clear and the wine bottle empty, Clint stood up and placed his napkin on the table. “Well, it was an amazing evening, but (Y/N) and I have an appointment that we can’t be late to.”

“It’s 9 at night, what appointment could you have?” Bruce asked, his eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Oh, you know,” I said looking at Clint. We smiled and said in unison,

“An appointment at the Marquee!”

“Which is a club, in case you didn’t know that,” Clint added.

“We’ll see you at the tower!”

Clint grabbed his jacket that was draped on his chair and together we darted out of the restaurant and down the street to call a taxi. When one finally stopped for us, we got in and told the driver where to go.

Clint nudged me with his elbow, “Are you ready to party, baby Stark?”

“We’re going to party hard, Barton.”

And we did.

The club was all bright colored lights and a strong mixed scent of alcohol and sweat. We danced almost the entire night and sang along to the music that actually had lyrics. Clint did his “famous” club dance and I stood there trying not to collapse from laughter. When we were both too tired and thirsty to continue, we maneuvered our way through the crowd of people and took a seat at the bar.

“One whiskey and a beer.”

We sat at the bar sipping our drinks and watched the crowd of people dancing and the lights shine on the dance floor.

“So how about we find you a man tonight?” Clint said then took a swig of his beer.

I shook my head, “No thank you. I am perfectly fine being the single Pringle that I am.”

Clint rolled his eyes, “No you’re not. Since I’ve known you all you’ve ever wanted was to get married and raise a bunch of little curly purple haired babies in a cottage near the ocean.”

“That’s not true. It was a Victorian home twenty minutes from a lake.”

Clint chuckled, “Whatever. You can’t have that if you don’t fill in the first piece, (Y/N).”

“I’ll fill it when I want to.”

“Huh?” Clint shouted.

“I said I’ll fill it when I want to. And you can’t really start a lasting, meaningful relationship with a guy you meet at a club who’s too drunk to see straight.”

“Anything is possible,” Clint said, “but seriously, we need to find you someone. Someone nice and smart and not weird and can hopefully cook because God knows you can’t.”

I playfully slapped his arm and laughed, “You jerk. You said you liked the chicken I made the other night,”

“It was like choking down cardboard, Stark.”

“Then cook for yourself next time, bird boy.”

Clint put his beer down on the coaster that was set on the bar in front of us then turned to me, his face suddenly serious, “Look, Tony’s nervous.”

I gave him a confused look and asked, “What do you mean?”

He sighed, “He knows you don’t want to be here. We all know how much you love working over near Salem. You treat those kids at the school like they’re your own. You deserve to be with them and live a life there with a family of your own without worrying about us over here –”

“Clint, you are all my family. When I’m with all of you, I’m home.”

“Yeah, but when you’re working with us, you can’t work with the kids and they need you more –”

“They’re fine.”

“What?”

I sat closer to him and said in a higher voice, “I said they’re fine. I’m fine.”

We sat there for a while just looking at each other, the sound of the club music blasting in our ears. I knew that Clint was trying to help, but I really didn’t need it. I was happy being at the tower with everyone, I really missed them while I was gone. Clint stood up and offered me his hand.

“Let’s go back home, it’s late.”

 

The next morning I got dressed and made my way to the kitchen to make myself some toast. I was surprised to see my father and Clint standing in the kitchen cutting lemons into halves and squeezing the juice into a pitcher. Clint looked up at me and smiled.

“What are you two doing?” I asked.

“Sam and Rhodey drank all the lemonade you made yesterday,” My father said without looking up, “I know you didn’t get to have any.”

I dragged a stool over to the kitchen counter and watched as they made the lemonade. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them do things in the kitchen. Well, besides complain and steal the cookies I bake.

“Okay, what do you want to tell me?” I said finally.

They both stopped and looked at me.

“We want to apologize,” Clint began.

“For taking you away from your job,” my dad said.

“Then pestering you about finding someone,”

“And also the spangley kid thing,”

“And bringing back up the whole job thing,”

“And asking Legolas and the Russian to get you out of the tower,”

“And probably other things too,” Clint finished.

 I folded my arms over my chest and sighed, “Natasha and Pepper talked to the both of you, huh?” I asked.

They awkwardly shifted their weight and said, “Maybe,”

“It’s fine,” I said then moved them away from the pitcher of lemon juice, “now move out of my way, you’re making the lemonade wrong.”


	3. Shine Bright Like An Arc Reactor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper Potts and the reader share a bonding moment! With music :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I do not own any of these characters, and I hope you enjoy :)
> 
> And clothes!  
> http://www.polyvore.com/girls_night_out/set?id=169325253
> 
> and the song, which I also do not own  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk8eJh4i8Lo

It was a late Wednesday evening and Steve and I were sitting in my apartment at the Avengers tower in a comfortable silence. Steve was sitting in my book nook near the window reading _The Book Thief_ (which I recommended) and I was lying in my bed reading _The Sword in the Stone_ (which he recommended). My apartment is the quietest area in the whole building, so Steve usually comes over to read or draw whenever the team won’t leave him alone (by team, I mean Clint and Natasha).

I had just turned over and found a comfortable reading position when my phone buzzed on my night stand. I groaned and reached for my phone to answer it.

“Hello?”

“I need a favor,” it was Pepper.

“What kind of favor?” I asked hesitantly. She’s never asked me for a favor before.

 “First,” she began, “do you have any shame or are you easily embarrassed in any way?”

“I’m a Stark, Potts. Shame is not a word in our vocabulary.”

I saw Steve look at me and roll his eyes after I said this, so I threw my pillow at him.

“That’s what I was hoping. I was invited to a sort of reunion party Friday night for a group I was in during college, and I can’t take Tony. Actually, I can’t even _find_ Tony.”

“You probably won’t see him until after it's all over,” I said, “he has a sixth sense with these kinds of things.”

“I know,” Pepper said, “but I need someone to go with me. I don't think I can do this alone. Please help me, (Y/N).”

“I would be happy to go with you Pepper. It could be fun.”

Pepper breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you so much, I owe you one.”

“Don’t mention it.” I said, and then she hung up.

Steve had made his way to the chair near my bed and was staring at me, his eyebrow raised.

“It was Pepper,” I explained, “she invited me to some sort of reunion party.”

“Oh, fun.” Steve smirked at me and I rolled my eyes.

“I’m doing this for Pepper. And it will be fun, Rogers, so shut up.”

 

That Friday I dressed in a simple red and navy blue blue dress with flats and of course my wig, then headed down to the living room to wait for Pepper. When she finally entered the room, she was dressed in a light blue batwing dress, her perfectly curled red hair framing her worried face.

 “Are you ready?” I asked with a smile.

She feigned a smile and nodded, then picked up her purse from the coffee table and walked over to the elevator, with me following behind her.

On our way to the elevator, Steve passed us and gave us a thumbs up.

“Have fun tonight. But be careful on your way back, it’s supposed to snow later tonight,”

“Thanks, Steve.” I smiled and dragged Pepper into the elevator after me.

“What’s wrong, Pepper?” I asked. She was a little too quiet.

“I just haven’t seen these people in a long time, so I’m a little nervous.”

“Don’t be, I’m sure it’ll be fun.” I looked at her and smiled.

When she didn’t smile back, I poked her face until she finally smacked my hand away.

“Just smile back and I’ll be happy,” I said, poking her face again.

She gave me a very unconvincing smile in return. I frowned at her.

Pepper sighed, “These are college friends, college friends that know where and who I work for and make many assumptions about me. I’m not exactly looking forward to the looks and whispers that go on in the background whenever I go to these things.”

“I could always beat them up,” I replied, “or make brownies with laxatives. Whichever you prefer, because personally, I like both.”

Pepper laughed, “No, (Y/N), it’s okay.”

“Well,” I said as the elevator doors opened at our destination, “We’re just going to have to destroy them with our kindness and amazing success.”

 

When we got to the house where the party was being held, we wiped the snow from our boots on the door mad and rang the doorbell. A woman with short blonde hair and too much lipstick answered the door and squealed when she saw Pepper.

“Pepper Potts!” she screamed and wrapped her in a huge embrace, “It’s so good to see you!”

Pepper awkwardly hugged her back, “It’s good to see you too, Christie.”

Christie released Pepper from the hug and turned to me.

For the love of Odin, don’t hug me.

“Who is this?” She asked with a smile.

Pepper and I gave each other a look, “She’s a good friend of mine that I met in Italy.” She looked at me and smiled, “She’s studying art at Pratt.”

“Art History Major with a Minor in Visual Arts,” I added with a small smile. _Pepper you are so lucky I come from a long line of liars_.

Christie nodded and looked at me with genuine admiration. “That’s amazing. Well, come in, It’s freezing outside!”

After the door shut behind us, Pepper and I shed our layers of coats and scarves and followed Christie to the living room. There were a handful of men and at least fifty other women in the room talking and laughing. I looked at Pepper and raised an eyebrow.

“Pepper,” I whispered as we passed a cluster of women, “what kind of group did you say this was?”

“I might have been in a sorority…” She whispered back to me.

When all the women saw Pepper, they screamed like Christie had earlier and swarmed Pepper. I was thrown back by the crowd and accidently bumped into a table, knocking down a few empty cups that were on it. After I finished cleaning the mess I made, Pepper had finally escaped and was standing by my side again.

“These women don’t exactly seem like people that would hate you. Or anyone for that matter.”

“Looks can be deceiving, (Y/N).”

I looked around the room and spotted the food table.

“Well, we might as well eat.” I said and pulled Pepper towards the food.

We piled our plates high with food and filled our glasses with wine. We found seats in the sunroom that was that was only a few steps from the living room and equally full of women. As soon as we found a place to sit, I set my things down on the table in front of us and pulled my phone out of my purse. When Pepper saw what was in my hand she quickly took it from me and shoved it back into my purse.

“What do you think you’re doing,” she snapped.

“I-I, was going to check-” I stuttered. Pepper had never snapped at me before.

“Not here, not with them. They have a strict ‘no phone’ rule at these things.”

I raised an eyebrow at her and she just shook her head.

“Sister time is sister time,” is all the explanation she gave me.

I nodded and turned my attention to my plate of food.

After what felt like an eternity, Christie quieted the crowd of women and announced that it was time for the traditional karaoke contest.

“Here we go,” Pepper said with a sigh.

I looked a Pepper with wide eyes and a mouth full of food.

“Karaoke?” I said after I swallowed the food in my mouth, “ _Karaoke_?”

“You said you had no shame, remember?”

“This was not at all what I was expecting, Pepper.”

She picked up a slice of cheese from off of my plate and shoved it in my mouth.

“I told you that I owe you. Just please stick with me on this.”

Christie and another woman named Linda went around assigning numbers to each pair at the party and called them in random order. Pepper and I were third on the list, and when it was our time to go up, it took every ounce of courage I had in me to walk up to the makeshift stage.

“Calm down,” Pepper said, handing me the microphone, “we’ll do the song you sing to Tony when you two have your music sharing days.”

“Excuse me, that is a father daughter secret,” I said, grabbing the microphone.

“You sing it in front of everyone, it’s not a secret.”

“Whatever. But we have to do the dance or I really can't do it.”

“I can do that.”

Pepper walked over to the woman controlling the music and whispered the name of the song to her, then walked back and took her place next to me. The familiar synthpop tune started to play and on queue we began to sing the first verse. I started to dance to it and Pepper followed. When we finished our song, loud cheers and applause erupted from the crowd of women. I looked over to my right and saw a huge dorky grin on Pepper’s face that made me smile.

The rest of the night was spent talking and laughing with the women at the party. Some of them told me stories about Pepper from when they were in school together and how she was the foundation that kept them stable.

“She always knew how to fix every little problem,”

“I probably would have never graduated if she hadn’t made me sit and study,”

“We were organized because she was organized,”

Honestly, nothing they told me was much of a surprise. I already knew all of this about Pepper. I just listened to their stories and smiled and nodded.

 

After we said our goodbyes and put back on our endless layers of clothes, we soldiered our way through the thick haze of smoke to the taxi waiting out front.

Once we were settled inside and the taxi started moving, I pulled a scone wrapped in a napkin from my purse and tore it in half, giving the larger end to Pepper.

"How many snacks did you take from the party?" Pepper smiled as she accepted my offering.

I shrugged then took a bite of my half of the scone, "I don't know what you're talking about, Potts."

We sat in silence for a minute, eating our scones and enjoying both each other's company and the beautiful winter view of Manhattan from the taxi windows.

"Pepper," I said, looking down at my scone, "I'm really glad that you stayed here - with my dad and me, especially after everything - it really means a lot. And I know it's kind of weird, but I see you as a real mom. And I don't know, I'm just really happy."

I heard Pepper sniff as she reached over and enveloped me in a hug. She was warm and smelled like vanilla, like home. "Thank you for everything, too. I love you like my own, (Y/N), I hope you know that." 

I smiled and said, "I love you too, Pepper."

 

When we got back to the tower, my father was waiting for us in the front room of the penthouse. He and Bruce were wearing their pajamas while they looked at some new plans for a project they were working on. When they noticed us, they quickly put the files away.

“So how did it go?” my father asked.

Pepper and I looked at each other and frowned.

“Oh, well how about I order some take out and we plot our revenge on-“

Before he could finish, Pepper pulled a small trophy out from behind her back and we shouted in unison, “We won!”

My father and Bruce smiled and congratulated us.

“I believe this calls for a celebration.” My father said as he walked up to Pepper and planted a kiss on her cheek, “Bruce, get the cake.”

“Tony, you ate the cake.”

“Plan B. Marshmallows.”

“Marshmallows?” I asked, “That’s the best you can do?”

“Marshmallows are a gift from Odin himself, my dear blueberry.”

Pepper and I gave each other a look then crossed our arms and looked at them.

“I will not stand for this,” Pepper said.

“Nor shall I,” I added.

And with that, we danced out of the front room singing the song from the party.

“Well, that was interesting.” I heard Bruce say to my father.

“Yeah.”

 


	4. The Tough Turkey Tradition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The reader enjoys a nice family dinner with the Avengers and even has a bonding moment with Rhodey. Oh, and the formation of a mini 2 part plot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is extremely late and thanksgiving themed even though valentines day is coming up.... (I'll start working on a valentines fic soon).  
> And here's the outfit:  
> http://www.polyvore.com/thanksgiving/set?id=167848232

“I have a request for pie,”

Rhodey was sitting at the kitchen counter in the penthouse waiting for my dad to finish what he was doing in the lab. I was sitting down next to him writing a list of groceries we would need that Thursday while munching on some biscotti that he brought me from Seattle.

“What kind of pie?” I asked through a mouthful of cookie.

He folded his arms and thought for a moment, “How about something other than the traditional pumpkin or pecan?”

“Okay, I’m listening.”

“How about a chocolate peanut butter pie?”

I put down my pen and paper and looked Rhodey in the eye, “That is the greatest idea ever.”

He smiled at me then took the paper that had my shopping list scribbled on it. “Wow, 30 pounds of potatoes? I thought it was just the team and a few others that were invited to the dinner.”

“Have you met Steve and Thor?”

“They do eat a lot... But are four turkeys really necessary?”

“Steve, Nat, Clint, Tony, and Thor like the turkey legs.”

“So much cranberry sauce…”

I stole the list from Rhodey’s hands and jotted down the ingredients for the chocolate peanut butter pie.

“It’s been like this for every holiday since the team has been together.” I thought for a moment and added, “Well, basically every trip to the supermarket if I’m being honest.”

“You’re not making this all yourself, are you?”

I laughed, “Oh goodness no. Everyone helps out. See, you’ve only ever been invited to dinner, you’ve never seen the behind the scenes of it all.”

“I just figured Tony would cater everything.”

“No, making holiday dinners ourselves has been a tradition for a while. And _you_ , Colonel Rhodes have never participated in the tradition.”

“Oh no,”

“Oh yes,” I said, then stood up and grabbed his shoulder, “you’re going to help me with both the grocery shopping and the construction of your pie.”

Rhodey got up and tried to pull away, “Yeah, that’s a bad idea. I don’t cook.”

“It’s baking, Rhodey. And you have no choice.”

Rhodey glared at me as he grabbed his coat and scarf that were draped over his seat.

“Fine, but only because Tony is taking too long to get up here.”

 

Rhodey and I scavenged through the store in search of the items on my list. People stared at us and our four turkeys and four shopping carts with inquisitive faces as we passed them, but we ignored them. While I was in the baking section deciding whether I wanted to make the pie a pudding-like base or a brownie-like base, Rhodey asked me a question.

“How long do you think you’re staying this time?”

I looked over to see him frowning as he examined the the rows of flour and sugar in front of us.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been here for six months. In the past four years you’ve been here a total of what, a few weeks?”

“So? I know my visits aren’t always consistent or long.”

“And I know why they’re not,” Rhodey stood up straighter and looked me in the eye, “I also know that you didn’t come back for a visit out of the blue and decided to stay a while. You’re looking for something, aren’t you?”

I looked away from him and pretended to be examining the labels on two pudding mixes that were on the shelf in front of me. Of course I was here for a reason, but I didn’t want to tell anyone that.

“Y/N, you can’t keep secrets from us. Especially if it’s dangerous.”

“It’s not dangerous,” I replied in a quiet voice.

“Then what is it?”

A rush of emotions began to flood inside me. I tried to blink away the tears so I wouldn’t cry in the middle of the supermarket, but it was too late.

“They took a student, Rhodey.” I choked out. A tear escaped my eyes but  I quickly wiped it away.

“What?”

“HYDRA,” I whispered, “they took a student the first week or two that I was here.”

Rhodey shook his head, “That’s impossible, how would they know about them? They weren’t even in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files.”

“Yes, they were. Almost every form of government knew about us and the school.”

“Do you have any leads? Has Charles found anything? Do you have any idea why they wanted the kid in the first place?”

I shook my head, “No. They’ve somehow hidden themselves from him. But she was like _me_ …”

Rhodey pinched the bridge of his nose, “This isn’t good.”

“Look, I don’t want to tell anyone about this right now. Okay?”

“We can help you though –”

“No, Rhodey. You can’t.”

Rhodey shook his head and put his hands on his hips, “I can’t believe you haven’t said anything about this.”

“Can we finish up here, please? We have a lot of stuff to do still.”

Rhodey breathed a long sigh then nodded and we continued shopping. We didn’t speak the entire ride back to the tower.

The night of our dinner, the team rotated shifts for cooking duty. At one in the morning, Pepper and Happy got up to prepare the four turkeys and stuffing. Soon after them, Bruce got up and started to boil the potatoes and snapped some green beans for Steve’s casserole while Clint made his own “surprise casserole”.

“What’s the surprise?” Bruce asked.

“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise, would it Doctor?”

After those were done, Steve and Natasha woke up and made biscuits and stuffing then finished off the casserole. In the late afternoon, my father got up and made the cranberry sauce with mandarin oranges and walnuts. Which he still somehow found a way to burn.

“Dad, you literally just had to open the cans and mix them,”

“Well I wanted to test out the prototype of the new can opener I made. It’s meant to be five times as fast as the average electric can opener.”

Later in the evening, a few hours before the meal began, Thor, Jane, Darcy, and Dr. Selvig arrived with a tub of mac and cheese, ham, two sweet potato casseroles and some strange Asgardian dish.

“It is a delicacy in my world,” Thor explained as he gave me a pan filled with a strange dark colored substance.

 After them, Maria Hill arrived with two pecan pies and a large bottle of scotch for later, and Sam brought over a family favorite dish of roasted carrots and squash.

Rhodey and I were busy making the pie he had requested. He had his own that he was making by copying what I was doing with mine. When they were finished, it was obvious who made which.

“I think mine is probably going to go untouched,” Rhodey said with a laugh, “Yours looks like it came straight out of a baking magazine or something.”

“Yeah, I know I’m great,” I said smugly.

Rhodey playfully jabbed my side, “We should probably get these in the fridge,”

When the pies were away and the table was set in the dining room (which, to my surprise fit everything and everyone perfectly), we gathered everyone to say grace.

“Would you do us the honors, Tony?” Pepper asked.

We all stood together around the table with our hands joined and our heads bowed.

“Thanks for this day and this opportunity to be together as a family. Thanks for this great meal prepared by the team. And sorry about the cranberry sauce, I had good intentions. Uh, thanks for keeping us all safe while we’re out in the field, and thanks for blessing us with the gifts that we have so we can protect the people and things we care about. Amen?”

“Amen,”

Everyone sat down and began to dig into their food. Thor was so enchanted by the sweet potato casserole that he ate nearly the entire dish, save a few scoops that Clint managed to throw on his own plate. I sat between Sam and Steve, who’s plate was piled high with food, and for a while Sam and  I just stared in awe with how much food that man put away, even more so when he got a third helping while we were still on our first.

“What? You two act like you’ve never seen me eat before,” Steve said with a laugh.

“Not like this, man. Not like this.” Is all that Sam could say.

From across the table, my father, Bruce, Selvig and Jane were having a very loud conversation about something science that I can’t even begin to describe.

“That’s impossible,” Jane said, “To do that you would need a large amount of thermo radiation to even begin the _beginning_ of the process.”

“Which isn’t very difficult if you have the right tools,” My father said around a mouthful of stuffing.

“It could take months, maybe even years to find the punctuated equilibrium for that experiment.” Selvig added.

“We’ve developed a device that can cut that time in half. We actually have a prototype down in the Stark Labs.” Bruce mentioned.

Clint was telling Maria and Nat a story from an old mission that made Maria laugh so hard juice shot out of her nose. Pepper, Darcy, and Rhodey traded funny stories about Tony and Jane.

“And the shoe was never seen again,” Darcy finished.

“I think my story about gaining superhero powers for a week totally beats that one, Darcy.” Pepper laughed.

“I know, but I had to try.”

After the dinner plates were cleared away by Steve, Bruce, and Clint, Rhodey, Pepper and Maria helped me bring the dessert items into the dining room.

“Rhodey, your pie’s not that bad,” My father said after he took a bite.

“That’s Y/N's pie, Tony.”

“So that was a great game tonight, wasn’t it?” my dad continued as if he heard nothing.

And then came the question I had dreaded all day.

“So Y/N, how’s work?” Darcy asked, licking whipped cream off of her fingers.

I swallowed hard and tried to smile, “It’s been great, but I’ve decided to take a break for now. Maybe take a few classes at Pratt to build up my résumé.”

I looked away from Darcy and noticed that Rhodey was glaring at me. I immediately looked away and tried to focus on the half eaten slice of pie in front of me.

“Tony, I need to tell you something,” I heard Rhodey say.

“Rhodey –“

“No, Y/N.” Rhodey interrupted then looked back at my dad, “You need to know this.”

The entire table went quiet, all eyes going back and forth between Rhodey and me.

“Y/N's been here for the past few months because a student of her’s went missing and she’s looking for the kid. She’s not here because she’s taking a break from teaching, or because she wants to take a few more classes. She just didn’t want to tell anyone.”

“Y/N?” Steve whispered to me, searching for confirmation.

“That’s not the only thing. HYDRA took the girl, and she happens to have the same powers as Y/N.”

Groans and “oh no”s flooded the room after he finished.

“Y/N, why didn’t you say anything?” Clint asked.

“We could have helped,” Natasha added.

“I can take care of it. _I_ have to take care of it.” I said quickly, “I’m responsible for those kids, and I just left them there and now one of them is in trouble and it’s _my_ fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Y/N…” Steve said, putting his hand on mine, “There’s nothing you could have done.”

“If I was there I could have,” I whispered.

“Lady Y/N,” Thor’s voice boomed from across the table, “you must not worry about this. Do you not know who you are a friend of? All of Asgard is in debt to you for your courageous deeds. You need only ask a favor and it shall be done.”

“Thor, I’m not sure if you can really help me with this, I don’t even know where they are –“

Thor smiled and said, “Lady Y/N, you mustn’t forget about my good friend Heimdall, he who sees all. There is nothing that can hide from him.”

He got up from the table and motioned for me to follow him. “I shall show you.”

 


	5. Tough Turkey Tradition Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot thickens. Will you be able to save your student from the clutches of HYDRA? Are you going to stay in the tower after the mission is complete or go back to work? Did Tony leave any pie???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to post the shorter half sooner than planned because this is late enough as it is. Thanks for reading and being so patient!
> 
> P.S. If you have any story ideas you'd like to see, just comment and I'll try to incorporate them!
> 
> As always, the outfit:  
> http://www.polyvore.com/mission/set?id=168096534

Thor and I walked out of the Avengers tower bundled in our winter clothes. The Norse god held his hammer and raised it into the sky.

“Do you think you can keep up with me?” he smirked at me before he shot off into the sky.

I rolled my eyes, pulling my scarf higher over my face then followed him. We flew far over the city into a deserted wooded area of land on the outskirts of the city. Finally, we landed in a flat grassy area surrounded by trees. The earth was scorched with a strange symbol, which I guessed was Asgardian. Thor stood right in the middle of the markings and looked up into the dark, star filled sky.

“Heimdall!” he roared, “I have a request for Lady Y/N!”

There was no answer that I could hear, but Thor continued.

“We are searching for a child who was taken from her. Can you lead us to where she has been hidden?”

Wind began to swirl around us, and suddenly we were engulfed in a bright white light. I could feel myself being pulled upward as the beam began to shine brighter and brighter. Then suddenly, it disappeared and we found ourselves in the middle of an old warehouse.

“Is this the place?” I asked Thor.

“Heimdall is never wrong.”

We searched the building from top to bottom but found nothing.

“Thor, this must be wrong.”

“No, she is here. Trust me, Lady Y/N.”

We searched around the floor where we had landed for a second time. I was about to give up hope when Thor called me over to where he was standing. He had discovered a small door in the far corner of the room, hidden behind pieces of scrap wood and metal.

“Are you ready for what may lie behind this door, Lady Y/N?”

I nodded my head and kneeled down to open the door. At the bottom, I could just barely make out a narrow staircase that led straight down to a dark hallway. I went down feet first with Thor following not far behind. Once I reached the bottom, I held out my hand in front of me, palm up, and released a blue ball of energy to light our way.

“Lady Y/N, I see something up ahead.”

There was a dim yellow light coming from a door near the end of the hall. I quickly extinguished my light and tiptoed to the door. I peeked inside and felt my stomach churn. Madison was sitting in a cage in the middle of the room, shackled to the ground with large stone manacles.

“That seems excessive.” I whispered.

"If this child is as powerful as you, then I think not."

As soon as we were sure that no one was around, we entered the room and went straight towards the cage.

“Ms. Stark!” Madison said with a hoarse voice.

Her lips were cracked and she had a few scrapes and bruises on her arms and face. Together, Thor and I dismantled the cage and restraints  that held Madison to the room with nothing but our bare hands.

“Hey Madison. Are you hurt?” I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her tight along with my scarf.

She nodded and hugged me, burrowing her face into my neck. I picked her up and held her tight. Suddenly, voices and footsteps echoed down the hall. I turned to Thor and looked him straight in the eye.

“You need to take her back to the tower,” I whispered.

“Lady –“

“No, Thor. Take her and go. I’m going to handle this.”

Thor looked at me with sadness clouding his bright blue eyes. He nodded, knowing I couldn’t be persuaded.

“Madison, my friend Thor is going to keep you safe.”

I handed her to Thor and as soon as the agents entered the room, he tore a hole in the roof using his hammer and was off. I turned around to face group of men who entered the room.

 _Six men, all armed,_ I thought, most _likely HYDRA, which means they won’t hesitate and will most likely play dirty._

“Wer bist du? Wo ist die Mutante Kind?” _Who are you? Where is the mutant child?_

“Safe von Ihnen.” _Safe from you._ I replied.

“Sie ist wie das Mädchen!” _She is a mutant!_ One of the men from the back yelled, “Holen Sie sich ihr!” _Get her!_

The six men launched an attack, shooting off tazers and running towards me to restrain me. I round house kicked the one closest to me, forcing him back and knocking over two more. The next I elbowed in the face and kneed in the stomach. While I was busy with the next two, one of the men who I had knocked over had made his way behind me electrocuted me. I screamed but stood my ground, quickly turning and knocking him put with the end of his weapon. Another man who lay on the floor pulled out a dagger and managed to slash my calf as I jumped out of the way.

 _I need to get out of here before it gets bad,_ I thought to myself.

I raised my hands and shot out more blue light, blinding all the men in the room and giving me just enough time to escape through the hole Thor had flewn through.

 

When I reached the tower, my father was sitting at the balcony, waiting for me. He was bundled up in four layers of clothes and had a first aid kit, a thermos and a blanket sitting near him. I hovered over to him and carefully sat down beside him. He wrapped the blanket around me and passed me the thermos, then he went to work cleaning up my face.

“I figured you wouldn’t go inside,” he said while he wrapped gauze around my calf, “you never do after something like this.”

“You know me better than anyone,”

We sat there in silence while he patched me up. It was a nice night. The stars were out and the air was crisp and cool with only a slight breeze.

“Banner took care of the kid, just so you know.” My father said, breaking the silence, “They hadn’t done anything to her, just moved her from base to base trying to figure out what to do with her. She loves Rhodey, actually. It’s kind of weird. You know, I never pictured him as a guy that children love. I take that back, you’ve always liked him.”

“He’s like my uncle. He keeps you in check, buys me biscotti from Seattle, and takes me grocery shopping…”

“I hope you’re not mad at him.”

“I’m not.”

“Good.”

 

I found Rhodey sitting at the kitchen island eating a left over dinner roll and drinking orange juice. When he saw me, he pulled out the chair next to him and passed me a roll from the basket.

“You look like shit.”

“I was unaware.”

I took a small bite of my roll then set it down, unable to eat.

“I’m sorry, Rhodey. I should have listened to you the other day.”

“You can’t keep those things from us, Y/N, especially something as serious as this.”

“I know it’s just – they’re my _responsibility_.”

“You need to understand that there are some things you don’t need to do alone.” Rhodey said, his face stern, “You need to know that you can count on us.”

“I know that now,” I said, poking my dinner roll with my pinky finger.

“Good. Now eat that roll or I will." 

 


End file.
